I saw The Mikado performed by Lyric Opera San Diego Friday night. It was my first opportunity to see their newly restored theater. I have tried to visualize the block in my head pre-restoration, and cannot (you can see a photo of the theater mid-construction on A9.com, with a little scrolling), but it looks nice now. The marquee on University has been fixed up, but the main entrance is actually on the side street. Probably a wise choice, but I hope they plan a more aesthetic fix to the University entrance, which is currently boarded up with plywood and makes an odd juxtaposition with the flashing lights of the marquee. The lobby is nice, with art deco posters on the walls and an antique silent movie projector near the concessions stand. The lobby was a bit cramped during this sold-out performance, but not too bad. The actual theater is quite pretty, and gives the Lyric Opera a lot more room for staging and the orchestra. The lighting protrudes into the auditorium, which is unfortunate, and the seats are a bit too cozy, with the leg room barely being sufficient for myself, but these are minor points. All in all, they have restored this vintage movie theater (the first suburban theater in San Diego, at a time when this neighborhood called to mind the description "suburban") quite nicely (I understand there are plans to show films here again, through some cinema society, which is very exciting)

This was my first time seeing a full-length Gilbert and Sullivan production (I've seen Trial by Jury before), and I enjoyed the experience. The Mikado presents a deliberately naive Victorian fantasy of Japan, utilized as a satire of the absurdities of the British judicial system, among other elements of English existence. And surely many of the production's points are applicable to our society today as well. Lyric Opera San Diego's production was sure to insert some jabs at our local political messes, with Pooh-Bah's multitude of meaningless titles now including the mayor and various city council seats currently unfilled in San Diego, thanks to the pension mess and some corruption convictions. Most additions of this kind were amusing, though I cringed when they slipped in a Lorena Bobbit joke (which left me wondering when the Judge Ito joke would surface). The cast was uniformly strong, with Nanki-Poo and Katisha standing out (I don't have the program in front of me to recognize the actors by name). The stage design was spare but effective, and the orchestra was wonderful. The acoustics of the venue were adequate--there are better venues in town, but there's really nothing to complain about. Overall, I enjoyed myself. This was my first Lyric Opera San Diego performance, but will most likely not be my last.